Tent awning



Feb. 4, 1941. I c. E. FRIESNER ETAL TENT AWNING Filed Dec. 11, 1959 Harry W. Ernest Patented Feb. 4, 1941 PATENT OFFICE TENT AWNING Charles E. Friesner and Harry W. Ernest, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to The Hettrick Manufacturing Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 11, 1939, Serial No. 308,516

8 Claims.

This invention relates to tents but more particularly to an awning for a tent, and an object is to produce a new and improved awning for a tent which can be selectively moved to open or useful position or can be moved to closed position and suitably secured in closed position.

ther objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown on the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a vertical elevation of a tent equipped with .an awning, the latter being shown in open or useful position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of a tent showing the awning in its closed position;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and showing by broken lines the manner in which the awning is moved to closed position;

Figure is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the awning in its fully closed position, being an enlarged section on lines 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the manner in which the awning arms are supported from the side wall of the tent;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing the means for holding the awning arms in upwardly disposed position when the awning is closed; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the position assumed by the parts when the awning arms are swung upwardly to secure the awning in closed position.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a tent In which in this instance is of the Well-known umbrella type having a tapered top portion II and downwardly and outwardly inclined side walls 12. At the front of the tent is a door opening IS. The tent may be made of any suitable material such as canvas or other textile fabric usually waterproofed in a suitable manner. It is to be understood that th structure of the tent forms no part of this invention and the .showing on the drawing is: entirely for purposes of illustration but the invention is not confined to the tent shown.

Provided in one side wall of the tent I is a window opening [4 which in this instance is covered by a piece of bobbinet I or other netting to keep out insects. Providing a shade for the window M is an awning generally indicated at It. Th awning I8 is of any suitable textile fabric and may be of the same material as the tent. The awning consists of a top portion ll and side portions l8 which in this instance are of one piece. The edges of the top portion l1 and side portions [8 are sewed to the side wall of the tent by a sewed seam l9 which extends about three sides of the window opening l5 but spaced a short distance from the edge of the opening substantially as indicated. Formed by doubling back the free edge of the top portion I"! and sewing the same by a seam 20, a pocket is formed to receive a rod 2i which is bent into U-form, the cross piece 22 of the rod being disposed in the pocket and the side arms 23 extending downwardly and rearwardly from the top portion when the awning is in its raised or inclined position. The free end of each arm 23 is bent at substantially right angles as indicated at 24 to provide a shoulder 25. The extreme end of the rod 26 is bent to lie in a plane substantially parallel with the main portion of the arm 23. At each side of the window l4 and slightly below the lower corners thereof, holes are formed in the side wall [2 of the tent and disposed therein are metal grommets 21 each having an opening 28 of a size sufiicient to receive the adjacent arm 23 and its shouldered end portion,

When the awning I6 is swung upwardly to its inclined or open position, the arms 23 serve as supports to hold the awning in this position, the extreme end 26 of each arm extending through the opening 28 in the respective grommet and" the shoulder 25 bearing against the outer portion of the grommet substantially as indicated on Figure 5. It will be apparent that the wire rod support 2| serves to maintain the awning fairly taut and owing to the nature of the material forming the tent and awning, the awning can be stretched a certain amount and the inherent resiliency of the material will serve to hold the shoulders 25 of the supporting arms 23 snugly against the grommets 21.

When it is desired to close the awning [6 or to move it flatly against the side wall of the tent and close the window opening I4, the arms 23 are moved slightly upwardly in order to enable the rods to be pushed through the openings 28 lower end of the window opening l4, thereby closing the lower portion as well as the side portions of the window and preventing the entrance of a driving rain to the interior of the tent. After the arms 23 are pulled through as far as they can be so that the top portion H of the awning rests against the side wall 12 of the tent, the arms are then swung upwardly to lie substantially parallel with the side walls of the tent. This tends to flex the lower end of the awning and efiect a tighter seal with the side wall. In order to hold the arms 23 in their upwardly swung position, loops 29 are sewed to the inside of the side wall I2 of the tent in position to receive the extreme end portions 25. By slightly stretching the material, the end portions 26 may be slipped underneath the loops as shown on Figure 6. In this manner, the arms are held out of the way and the awning is securely retained in its closed position. Obviously, when it is desired again to open the awning or swing it to its inclined position, this may be accomplished from the inside of the tent by reversal of the steps above described.

It is to be understood that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a tent having a window opening, an awning movable between a position covering said opening and an inclined position, and rigid supporting means engaging said awning and the tent for retaining said awning in inclined position, said supporting means being releasable to enable said awning to be swung to opening closing position.

2. In a tent having a window opening, an awning flexibly connected to the tent and adapted to be swung from opening covering position to an inclined position, sides for said awning secured to the tent, a rigid support for holding said awning in inclined position, a shouldered end on said support, and means on the tent to receive said shouldered end.

3. In a tent, an awning flexibly connected to the tent for swinging movements between a closed position flatly against the tent and an inclined open position, a U-shaped support connected to said awning, shouldered ends on said support, and grommets on the tent to receive said shouldered ends respectively, the arms of said support being slidable through the openings in said grommets to lie inside of the tent whenthe awning is swung flat against the tent.

4. In a tent, an awning flexibly connected to the tent for swinging movements between a closed position flatly against the tent and an inclined open position, a U-shaped support connected to said awning, shouldered ends on said support, grommets on the tent to receive said shouldered ends respectively, the arms of said support being slidable through the openings in said grommets to lie inside of the tent when the awning is swung flat against the tent, and means on the inside of the tent to hold said arms in place thereby securely to hold the awning in closed position.

5. In a tent having a flexible fabric body provided with a window opening, an awning flexibly connected to said body adjacent said opening,

said awning being movable between a closed position flatly against the tent to cover the opening and an open position inclined to the tent body, supporting arms carried by the awning, means engaging said arms to hold the awning in open position, an opening in the tent body for each arm and through which said arms are slidable when the awning is in closed position, said arms being swingable upwardly on the inside of the tent, and means to retain said arms in such upwardly disposed position.

6. In a tent having a flexible fabric body provided with a window opening, an awning flexibly connected to said body adjacent said opening, said awning being movable between a closed position flatly against the tent to cover the opening and an open position inclined to the tent body, supporting arms carried by the awning, a shouldered end portion on each arm, a grommet in the tent body for each arm and against which said shouldered ends bear when the awning is in open position, said arms being slidable through the openings in said grommets when the awning is moved to closed position and being swingable upwardly against the inside of the tent, and means for holding said arms in such upwardly disposed position.

'7. In a tent having a flexible fabric body provided with a window opening, an awning flexibly connected to said body adjacent said opening, said awning being movable between a closed position flatly against the tent to cover the opening and an open position inclined to the tent body, supporting arms carried by the awning, a shouldered end portion on each arm, a grommet in the tent body for each arm and against which said shouldered ends bear when the awning is in open position, said arms being slidable through the openings in said grommets when the awning is moved to closed position and being swingable upwardly against the inside of the tent, and loops on the inside of the tent to receive the ends of said arms to retain -same in upwardly disposed position.

8. In a tent having a flexible fabric body provided with a window opening, an awning of textile fabric having a top and side portions secured to the tent body about three sides of the window opening, said awning being movable between a closed position flatly against the tent body to cover the opening and an open position inclined to the tent body, a U-shaped rod having the base portion thereof secured to the free end of the top portion of said awning, the free end of each arm of said support being bent at substantially right angles to provide a shoulder with the extreme end portion extending approximately parallel to the adjacent arm, a grommet in the tent body for each arm disposed adjacent the lower end of the window opening, the extreme ends of said arms extending through the grommets with the I adjacent shoulder abutting the grommet thereby to hold the awning in open or inclined position, said arms being slidable through said grommets when the awning is move-d to closed position and being swingable upwardly against the inside of the tent for stretching the awning securely to closed position, and means on the inside of the tent for holding said arms in upwardly swung position.

' CHARLES E. FRIESNER.

HARRY W. ERNEST. 

